Publisher's Synopsis
Within the next decade biotechnology is likely to have a major impact on many aspects of life but especially healthcare, food and agriculture. This volume is a comprehensive analysis of the development of biotechnology in the communist and post-communist USSR.;The Soviet Union had been relatively successful in those areas of technology which could be scaled-up with comparatively little difficulty (eg. space programme and chemical industry). The first part of the book analyzes the degree of success attained by the Soviet system in developing a more sophisticated technology - biotechnology - which will have revolutionary applications across the entire economy.;In the traditional areas of industrial biotechnology such as the production of bulk products for agriculture the USSR has achieved some major astonishing successes. However, Soviet efforts to scale-up production of genetically engineered products for industry were largely a failure and the USSR has quickly fallen behind the Western development nations.;The second part of the book concentrates on developments which are likely to take place in the organization and development of biotechnology in the transitional economies in the new post-Soviet period. Based upon recent visits to biotechnology establishments in the Baltics, Russia and Ukraine, the authors outline the different strategies which are likely to be adopted by the new nationalist governments.;The effects of the dissolution of the Soviet Union on All-union biotechnology programmes is described and those trans-national organizations which are likely to play a significant role in funding and coordinating research and production across the territory of the former USSR are identified.;Special emphasis is given to the new opportunities for foreign contact and investment which have been made possible by events following the defeat of the coup in August 1991 and the breakup of the Soviet Union. It is shown that significant transfer of biotechnologies has already taken place for the former USSR to Western countries. This process is likely to be accelerated by the recent changes. An extensive list of contracts, joint ventures and collaborations with Western companies is included. The main organizations involved in foreign trade in biotechnology in the former Soviet republics are also listed.
